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Water Supply/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim & Moby A robot, Moby, is standing in a puddle of water in the backyard. A hose is turned on and water is streaming out. Moby is brushing his teeth with an electric buffer. A boy, Tim, steps into the puddle and walks up to him. TIM: How many times do I have to tell you not to leave the water running when you brush your teeth? MOBY: Beep. TIM: My long showers are beside the poi... Hey, don't change the subject! Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, Where does our water come from? Thanks, Kevin. You're probably asking about the water supply, which is all the water that's fit for human use. That includes potable water, or water that's clean enough to drink. As well as water that's safe for other uses like cleaning, sanitation, and agriculture. An image shows a person drinking water. A split screen shows images of a water glass, a dishwasher, a toilet tank being flushed, and farmland. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, it's true that water covers about seventy percent of Earth's surface, but most of that is salty seawater, which isn't much use to us. Only three percent of the world's water is freshwater which we can use. And a lot of that is trapped in icebergs, glaciers, and snowcaps. A large "3 percent" is shown over a body of water. Images show icebergs in the ocean, a glacier, and snowcaps on top of mountains. TIM: The rest can be found in rivers and lakes, in areas of underground moisture called aquifers, and in man-made lakes called reservoirs. That's a little more than ten million cubic kilometers of usable water. Images show a mountain waterfall and river, a lake, an aquifer, and a reservoir. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Sounds like a lot, but it's only one percent of all the water in the world. That's how limited our supply of this vital natural resource is. Moby wades through the puddle to turn off the hose. TIM: That's better. It's easy to get spoiled when all you have to do is turn on a faucet, but not everyone is so lucky. More than a billion people on Earth don't have access to clean water. An animation shows a glass with the number one billion under it. The water in the glass is drained out. TIM: The United Nations calls this lack of water in so many parts of the world a global water crisis. An image shows a world map. Areas where water is scarce are shown in red. The red areas are in Africa, Southern Asia, a small part of Australia, a sliver of South America, Mexico, Central America, and a small area of the southwestern United States. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, there are a few main causes, starting with overpopulation. The global population doubled over the last fifty years. Today we're at about seven billion, and the number's growing fast. As the population booms, the demand for water increases. A chart shows the world population from 1950 to 2050, measured in billions. The population rose from 3 billion in 1960 to 7 billion in 2010. It is projected to be at 9 billion in the year 2040. TIM: Developed countries, like the United States, have extensive systems of pipes and pumps that bring clean, fresh water straight to our homes. An image shows an underground pipe with smaller pipes and filters connecting it to a reservoir and to individual houses. TIM: But many poorer countries have drier climates and can't afford these fancy systems. An image shows women with large containers and glasses scooping water out of a river. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Thank you for illustrating my next point, which is overconsumption, or using way more water than needed. Moby and Tim are standing in Moby's puddle. TIM: Experts estimate that up to two-thirds of the water we use goes to waste. An animation shows water rising inside of an outline of a drop of water. The water fills two-thirds of the drop. TIM: Bad bathroom habits like leaving the faucet on, or taking long showers get a lot of the blame. Tim is shown leaving the water running while he brushes his teeth, and taking a long shower. TIM: But overconsumption happens on a much larger scale too. For instance, only a fraction of the water used by farms actually reaches the crops. An animation shows water sprinklers on a farm. TIM: Factories use millions of liters of water per day to make everything from paper, to metals, to chemicals. An animation shows water pouring out of the pipes from a factory. TIM: And the production of electricity from sources like natural gas, coal, biofuel, and nuclear plants consumes gargantuan amounts of water. An animation shows a truck loading water into an oil platform. TIM: Then there's the problem of water pollution. Pollutants like fertilizers, pesticides, toxic waste, and sewage can seep into freshwater sources and contaminate the water supply. Images show a bag of fertilizer, a man spraying pesticides, a toxic symbol on a can of leaking liquid, and sewage leaking out of pipes. TIM: Polluted water is a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses that can spread harmful, even fatal diseases. An animation shows water pouring out of a pipe into a lake. A callout uses a skull and crossbones to indicate that there are toxic substances in the water being released. TIM: In places struck by poverty, drought, or major natural disasters, people might drink polluted water out of desperation, leading to deadly outbreaks. An image shows people in a hospital ward lying in beds. TIM: Finally, there are the big, private companies that make money selling water. They can buy freshwater sources, and then charge the public for access to them. An image shows a lake near snow-capped mountains. A barb-wired fence appears with a sign that says, "Warning, No Trespassing" and a symbol indicating that people are not allowed in. TIM: They can also sell it as bottled water, or use it to make other drinks. Side by side images show a bottle of "Snowcap Water" with a picture of a lake and snow-capped mountains on the label, and bottles of soda on a shelf that are labeled "Soda Pop." MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, there are a few things we can do to combat the water crisis. First, laws and government agencies can protect the quality of our water. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency tests the water supply for pollutants, sets rules for keeping the water clean, and slaps hefty fines on polluters. Worldwide organizations, like Unicef and WaterAid, help bring clean water to poor communities around the globe. An image shows a map of the United States. A large "United States Environmental Protection Agency" logo is placed over it. The map changes to show the entire world. Logos for "Unicef," and "WaterAid" are placed over the map as well. TIM: And water treatment plants can purify polluted water, making it safe to drink again. An image shows a water treatment plant. TIM: There are also desalination plants, which remove salt from seawater, though that's expensive to do and it takes a lot of energy. An image shows a desalination plant near a body of seawater. TIM: On smaller scales, boiling and chemical treatments can kill many types of bacteria and viruses. An image shows a flask filled with water being heated. Another water-filled flask has an effervescent tablet in it. TIM: And special filtering systems can remove unwanted minerals. An image shows a girl dispensing water from a filtered dispenser. TIM: But the simplest thing we can do is conserve, or save, the clean water that we already have and try harder not to pollute it in the first place. MOBY: Beep? TIM: Well, for example, factories can reuse the water they need over and over again. Some farms use drip-irrigation systems, which add water to the soil only when it's needed. An image shows an example of drip-irrigation. A plant is getting water from a small tube. TIM: And some businesses are taking care not to use toxic chemicals that can pollute the water. At the personal level, little things can make a big difference. Like turning off the faucet when you brush, taking short showers instead of baths, installing more efficient toilets and showerheads, and skipping bottled water whenever possible. The word "conserve" is covered by images of running water next to a toothbrush, a person taking a shower, a shower head with several powerful jets, and a bottle of water. Each image is crossed out with a red "X." Moby holds the garden hose over his head. MOBY: Beep. Moby lets a single drop of water fall on his head. TIM: Oh, actually, your showers don't have to be that short. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Science Transcripts